A Crucial Situation
by JRavenTheFangirl
Summary: Holly gets a call from Artemis in the middle of the day, so she flies to the manor as quickly as possible... she knows it must be urgent. But why EXACTLY is he so desperate to see her? Is it more... or much, much less important than she thinks?


**A/N: I haven't wrote AF in a while… It won't be as good as my previous fics, when I was sort of majoring in AF Fanfiction, but I hope you like it anyway. :) The idea of a fanfiction on Artemis and his Atlantis Complex was suggested to me by a nice anon on Tumblr- the idea of exactly what to do was mine, but I wanted to give them credit anyway because I wouldn't have written it had they not said anything.**

 _What could Artemis need this quickly?_ Holly thought.

She was flying at top speed to the Fowl Manor, after getting permission from the LEP to answer Artemis's call. He had to be in a pretty tight situation to call in the middle of the day. Sometimes he'd buzz her, just to talk… but he knew she had a job and usually tried his best to work around that by calling at night. But it was just barely 2:00 in the afternoon, and he needed her.

With his Atlantis Complex still not gone, she was extra worried. Butler would usually take care of those things, but what if something had happened to Butler? What if he'd…

No- she pushed those thoughts out of her head. She shouldn't be so negative.

 _"No, you better go," Trouble said, sending her away with a wave of his hand, after she'd requested someone else to go in her place- someone who didn't have as high a position as her, and perhaps more time to kill. "If we send someone else, he'll probably just kick them to the curb and demand you in return."_

 _Holly felt embarrassed to admit it… but he was right._

She left her commander's office with permission for a short leave… A short one, depending on how long it would take her to get Artemis out of whatever situation he'd gotten himself into. After all, that's what it probably was: him just getting himself in trouble again, and she'd have to swoop down and save him. It was a silly game, but that's just who Artemis was, and, truth be told, she didn't mind. The sticky (stupid) situations were getting less stupid as Artemis grew up, and he was growing up fast, wasn't he?

Holly smiled to herself, but now was not the time for reminiscing. She had to be on her A-game, as humans called it… ready to fight whatever big monster Artemis had raised from the dead in his laboratory.

She arrived in front of the Fowl Manor and rang the doorbell. Taking a look around, she saw that the mansion was still intact. That was good.

A large figure opened the door, and Holly looked up to meet the eyes of Butler. He let his hard-faced demeanor slide off of him when he saw who she was, and he gave her a gentle smile, almost like a Great-Dane-sized Rottweiler seeing a tiny child.

"Hello, Holly," he greeted, letting her inside. "Do you need Artemis?"

She nodded, giving him a glance whilst scanning the manor for any clues. "He called me," she said.

Butler's shoulders relaxed, in a way that resembled a sigh. "Let me know if it's anything crucial." She nodded and he watched as she walked up the stairs to Artemis's room.

Holly took extra care in her pacing, making sure she wasn't noticeably emotional, when she knocked on Artemis's door. Evidently everything inside and outside the manor was okay, so it wasn't anything _too_ destructive that needed the LEP's attention.

"Artemis…?" she asked. "You called me… Are you oka-"

The door burst open. A hand grabbed hers, and pulled her inside before she could blink.

"A-Artemis!" she exclaimed. "What'd you do?!" _This must be more urgent than I thought…_ she worried.

"I found it!" he cried.

"What?!"

A wide grin spread across the boy's face. He said, "I found my mysterious birthmark!"

Holly had… no words. Artemis was busy waiting for her response to say anything. The world stopped moving. And neither of them said a word for a number of long moments, while they let the insanity of Artemis's words sink in… Sorry- _Orion's._

"W… What?"

"My secret birthmark!" Orion said. "I'm a prince of somewhere or another… I wonder where." He looked out his window that was, for the first time in a while, open. Artemis usually closed it because he didn't like any distractions, but this was Orion. They could feel the midday breeze flowing in, and Holly found it oddly calming. Artemis should do that more often.

"Incredible," she muttered. She was considering just walking out and leaving him to it, but if she left, he would chase her down. It was no use. "You actually found it… And, furthermore, decided it was important enough to buzz me for in the middle of the day."

"But it is!" Orion stepped forward and took her hand in his. "I'm a prince now…" he said, eyes sparkling. "At long last… I can make you my princess. You deserve the world, Holly… and I'll give it to you. But, for a start, let me give you a kingdom."

This was actually making her blush. This prince thing was something right out of a cheesy romance novel, but that line wasn't half bad. She made a mental note to mention it to Foaly; he'd been joking about writing a romance novel lately.

"Holly…" Orion sunk to a knee.

Oh no.

"Please be mine, forever," he whispered. He kissed her hand. "I don't have a ring, but I hope my love will be enough, until I can give you the world…"

"O-Orion…" she stuttered…

No matter how sweet that was, or how poetic he sounded… it was still stupid, and there was only one thing she could do. She pulled her hand away and said, "No." Her cheeks were hot and glowing, despite it all.

"Why?" Orion pleaded. He stood up, asking, "Why do you say no, when I know you love me too?"

"Well, for starters, because you're acting absolutely _ludicrous_. B, I _don't_ love you. C, you can't ask someone to marry you out of the blue, because you're a prince or otherwise! Which, by the way, you're not," she said. "That can be D. I didn't know the Fowls _had_ a birthmark…"

"My father never said anything about a birthmark, that's true…" Orion shrugged. "I guess I must be adopted."

"That's too big of an idea to just immediately decide…" she whispered.

"It's right here." Orion put a finger on the outside of his right thigh. "Amazing, isn't it? I _knew_ I had one." That was a lie.

"Well, that makes one of us."

"Want me to show you for proof?"

Orion started unbuckling his pants, and Holly quickly stopped him before he could get any farther. "No, no, I believe you," she said.

Orion shrugged and put his pants back on. "If you say so."

Holly sighed. It looked like she was done here… She needed to wrap this up pretty quick, so she could get back to the LEP. Wouldn't Foaly enjoy this little tale?

"So is this all you called me for?" Holly asked. "To marry you and see your birthmark?" Both of which she wasn't going to do.

"Yes." Orion was sad now. His eyes turned down, and he said, "I'll have you, yet. I know you love me, Holly…" He took her hand in his again. "We just have to break down those stupid walls of species, age… and probably height, too, because who knows how tall I'm going to be?"

"Yes, those stupid walls…" Holly pulled her hand away. "Now," she said, "I have two options for you. Either I can knock you out, or I can give you over to Butler and save myself the trouble- and save you the headache. Which would you like?"

Orion smiled. "Oh, so generous…" he sighed, dreamily. "How can you be so beautiful and yet so kind to-"

"I'm leaning towards one of those," Holly warned.

"Don't knock me out!"

So Holly called Butler up to the room, and he arrived at the door within a shorter span of time that Holly thought was possible.

"You can trust me to stay here if you say so," Orion said to her, pushing out his bottom lip like an upset toddler. It felt so weird to see that on Artemis's face. "I'll do anything you ask, my princess…"

Holly pushed him to Butler. "Take care of him," she sighed. "Take his laptop away and make sure he doesn't accidentally invent a bomb."

Butler put on hand on his shoulder to keep him in place. "That's unlikely, but I'll do my best." Holly started to leave through the door, and she heard Orion struggling to get away from Butler behind her. "No, Orion!" Butler ordered.

"Come back, my princess!" Orion cried. "I love you!"

"Heel!"

"How dare you keep me from my love?! I am a _prince_!"

Holly couldn't help but smile to herself. But, at the same time, she couldn't help but worry that every call she was going to get from Artemis would be over something like this…

She was kind of right. She got ten more calls within the week and ignored every single one of them.


End file.
